China-Laos Railway passes milestones

A freight train runs on the China-Laos Railway. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Since the beginning of the year, the China-Laos Railway has carried more than 600,000 metric tons of cross-border cargo, including 510,000 tons of imported cargo, a 500 percent increase year-on-year, according to China Railway Kunming Group.

As of Wednesday,15.6 million tons of cargo had been transported via the railway since it opened in December 2021. Of that, 12.2 million tons were sent domestically, 3.4 million tons were sent overseas section and 2.98 million tons were transported across the border, the group said.

The railway, which stretches 1,035 kilometers, links Kunming, Yunnan province, with the Laotian capital, Vientiane.

Cross-border freight trains travel between the two countries every day, transporting goods such as electronics, vegetables and flowers from China to Laos, while bringing fruits such as bananas, durian and longan from South and Southeast Asian countries, along with other products.

To ensure the smooth delivery of imports and exports, the group has promoted stronger communication and coordination with customs to enhance port clearance efficiency. The time required from declaration to customs clearance has been shortened from 40 hours to less than five hours, the group said.

Twenty-five provincial-level regions across China have operated cross-border freight trains on the China-Laos line, covering several countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative — Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Singapore.

Categories of goods have expanded from 10 in the initial stages to more than 1,200 now, including electronics, photovoltaic products and cold chain fruit.